The Validity of the Teacher Burnout Scale for Use with Special Education Teachers

Cook, Bradley Caro

ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Walden University

Unique stressors can cause special education teachers to experience burnout at twice the rate of their peers in general education. The purpose of this study was to determine if the Teacher Burnout Scale (TBS) is able to accurately predict burnout in special education teachers even though it does not include items that reflect the unique factors that cause special educators to burnout. Items on the TBS do not reflect the unique stressors for special education teachers, creating difficulty in predicting and responding to special educator burnout (SEB). To determine if the TBS was able to predict SEB, 2 additional measure were given to the (n = 100) participants from a national random sample of special education teachers. The first additional measure was the Special Education Teacher Scale (SETS), a researcher-developed scale which included the stressors that are unique to special education teachers. The second was a Teacher Self Report (TSR) where teachers self identified feelings of burnout on a 1-10 scale. The TBS, SETS, and TSR were administered to participants in order to determine if TBS was able to predict burnout in special education teachers as well as if the SETS was able to explain a unique and significant proportion of variability in the TSR that was not explained by the TBS through regression analysis. The findings indicated that the TBS is able to predict with high validity even though it does not include items that are unique in SEB. Implications for positive social change include better understanding factors impacting burnout of special education teachers that can improve retention and satisfaction. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]